Heavy showers led to the first day of the second Test match between Bangladesh and New Zealand being called off an hour early at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday.
Bangladesh had the better of most of the day but the loss of the key wickets of opener Tamim Iqbal and all-rounder Shakib al Hasan just before tea left the match evenly poised.
Electing to bat first on winning the toss, Bangladesh recovered from the early loss of Anamul Haque through a 76-run second wicket partnership between Tamim and Marshal Ayub. The two batsmen appeared to be well in control and smoothly kept the scoreboard ticking over.
The loss of three wickets – Mominul Haque, Tamim and Shakib - in the span of 14 overs in the second session however, pulled the home side back.
“I think we lost an extra wicket today. Shakib staying in there could have made the scoreboard look better,” said Bangladesh top order batsman Marshal yesterday.
Marshal, who made 25 and 31 on debut in the previous Test in Chittagong, scored 41 fluent runs yesterday. Displaying the stylishness for which he is known for, Marshal played a number of classic shots in his 62-ball innings before he was bowled by Neil Wagner.
“I should have stayed at the wicket as I was scoring. Should have had lengthened the innings. To be honest, I missed the line and lost the wicket,” confessed Marshal.
With Bangladesh poised at 228/5, Marshal felt that the Tigers should aim for 400. “We never had the plan to attack, rather we wanted to play basic cricket. There were many bad deliveries and half-volleys so we tried to punish those. Both Mominul and Tamim can play big innings. We could have scored at least 350 if they were not dismissed.
“We gave away our wickets to be honest. Tamim, me and Mominul lost the opportunity to play a big innings. With where we stand now, I think we should aim to score at least 400 runs in the first innings,” he said.
